Excess Cecals from New Hay

[Azerane]

Hello there. I just got a new bale of meadow hay for Bandit two days ago. I buy it from the same fodder store, but obviously they're going to have different suppliers. This bale is much greener than any other I've had because I got it the day it was delivered, so I'm therefore assuming it was cut within the last week.

Since I've been giving Bandit the new hay he is just leaving cecal poop everywhere. The first night there were two squashed ones, and after work there was another. Now I've just woken up today and there were four, including two which somehow ended up stuck to the wall behind his cage, lol. He's still eating and pooping well otherwise, he's just either not eating his cecals or he's pooping way more of them than usual. Is it safe to assume that it's from the new hay that is probably richer because of how green it is?

Nothing else in his diet has changed, he gets 2 table spoons of oxbow adult pellets daily, fresh greens after I get home from work.

Do I need to be concerned about the excess production, or is it possible it will sort itself out as his gut gets used to the new hay?

 

[JBun]

Yeah, it sounds like the new hay is too rich. If it is very leafy, that would also explain it as the leafy bits have a higher nutrient content. If you can, try and find a stalky hay that you can mix in with it. He just needs more indigestible fiber that is more abundant in a more mature stalky hay.

It's not likely it will sort itself out as the hay will continue to provide too high a nutrient content to his diet, so he will continue to have excess cecals if you don't 'dilute' the hay with a stalky hay. The main concern that excess cecals pose is when they stick to a rabbits fur and set up conditions for fly strike occurring.

 

[Azerane]

Yeah, it sounds like the new hay is too rich. If it is very leafy, that would also explain it as the leafy bits have a higher nutrient content. If you can, try and find a stalky hay that you can mix in with it. He just needs more indigestible fiber that is more abundant in a more mature stalky hay.

It's not likely it will sort itself out as the hay will continue to provide too high a nutrient content to his diet, so he will continue to have excess cecals if you don't 'dilute' the hay with a stalky hay. The main concern that excess cecals pose is when they stick to a rabbits fur and set up conditions for fly strike occurring.

The thing about the hay is that it looks just like my previous bale of meadow in regards to leaves/stalks, just much greener. I do have a bit of his old hay left, but it's buried under the new stuff. I will have to go out and get a bag of oaten to mix in.

Fly strike was actually my other main concern, since there's a lot of flies around at the moment and I'm having trouble keeping them out of the house. Fortunately his butt has stayed very clean so far.

Thank you so much for your reply, much appreciated

 

[JBun]

Can you tell if maybe this new bale has more seed heads in it? That could also account for excess cecals.

 

[JBun]

One option might be to put out some of the hay to sun bleach it a bit. This will lower the nutrient content and should help resolve the cecal problem. You can't just put the whole bale in the sun though as only the exposed parts will sun bleach. So you will have to open up a flake at a time and spread it out some to expose all of it to the sun.

 

[Azerane]

It's not seed heads, because I always check for those and remove them if they're there. It's why I buy meadow over oaten because that's usually full of seeds. I will try bleaching some tomorrow when the rain has stopped. Thanks again

 

[Azerane]

Well, the night after I posted this Bandit had completely normal poops. So I held off on buying any oaten to supplement the new hay. Now it's been three nights and there haven't been any excess cecals. Perhaps the freshness of the hay was a bit of a shock to his system. Whatever it is I don't know, but thankfully I don't have to clean any more cecal poop off the walls!